Thursday, April 21, 2016

Ike Pearson Eventually Nets ChiSox Saul Rogovin

Ike Pearson was a pitcher in the forties for the Phillies and White Sox. He is best known for his terrible won-loss record in the majors, posting an 11-47 record over his first four years with Philly.

After the war, he returned to Philadelphia where he put up decent numbers over a few games, a 3.77 ERA in 5 games, 2 starts and a 1-0 record off a complete game shutout....but all that got him was a trip to independent Seattle in the PCL. This is not logged on his Baseball-Reference page, in fact none of Pearson's transactions are posted there.

“The Philadelphia Phillies of the National league announce the sale of Pitcher Ike Pearson to Seattle of the triple A Pacific coast league in a straight cash deal.The price was not disclosed.Manager Ben Chapman said ‘Pearson wasn’t quite good enough this season to be used often. I think he can win on the coast.' ”

Ooooookay. The numbers show otherwise, and the Phils chopped a few contracts trying to save money that year.

Pearson finished the season with Seattle, and started 1947 there before finishing at Chattanooga, a Senators AA affiliate, getting there in a deal I couldn't find.

He went to the White Sox for the 1948 season, in an odd deal where he bought out his release for a chance with the Pale Hose. From the Milwaukee Sentinel of May 8, 1948:

“Ike Pearson, White Sox hurler, is gambling $9,000 that he makes good in the majors this time. He formerly pitched for the Phillies. Pearson turned down an $8,000 offer to manage a minor league club and then paid Chattanooga $1,000 to release him from a player’s contract.”

His time in the majors with the White Sox was mediocre, and he was eventually sent to Minneapolis, and the Giants organization. ChiSox GM at the time Frank (Trader) Lane explained how in an interview published in Arch Ward’s “In the Wake of the News” in the Chicago Daily Tribune of June 14, 1952:

“Saul Rogovin cost us Ike Pearson, a pitcher we had at Memphis. We traded Ike to Minneapolis for Bob Cain, then swapped Cain to Detroit for Rogovin”

The only disparity in Lane's account is the fact brought up in the Milwaukee Journal of May 24, 1951 that Minneapolis actually received Pearson from Memphis, a Cardinals affiliate, where he had been loaned from the White Sox.

That article was actually detailing the release of Pearson by the Millers.